1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the fabrication of contacts for use with electrical circuits, and particularly relates to attaching an electrical contact to a metal member, suitable for fabricating electrical sockets or terminals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Female sockets for receiving male terminals are well-known in the prior art. The general requirements for such sockets is that they have interior surfaces for establishing electrical contact with a male terminal. It is well-known to gold plate the interior surface of a female socket and the outer surface of the male terminal to insure that they remain engaged and provide good electrical contact. The gold plating process of the prior art is both expensive and inefficient. Whether the strip material from which the female sockets are to be fabricated is coated on one or both sides the amount of gold applied to the surface is greater than is actually required for establishing good electrical contact with the male terminal. In an effort to decrease the amount of gold used and insure good electrical contact with the male socket terminal, the female sockets have been fabricated from base metal strips having a small raised gold contact or dot welded on what is to become the interior surface of the female socket. Although this latter type of socket provides for substantial economy in the amount of gold required for providing good electrical contact with the male terminal, it requires either substantial manual processing operations or complex and expensive automatic equipment.